79. RYE is a grain that grows very much like wheat, but it can be
cultivated in poorer soil and colder climates than this cereal. It is
not used alone to any great extent for anything except the making of
bread, but it is particularly well adapted for this purpose, since it
contains a large amount of gluten, the food substance necessary for
successful bread making, and, like wheat, will make yeast bread when
used alone. Bread made of rye flour has a dark color and a peculiar
flavor, and while these characteristics make it unpopular with some
persons it is used extensively by certain classes, especially persons
from foreign countries. Besides its use for bread, rye is frequently
combined with other cereals in the manufacture of ready-to-eat
cereal foods.
80. BUCKWHEAT is used less extensively than any of the other cereals
already mentioned, but it has an advantage over them in that it thrives
in soil that is too poor for any other crop. The buckwheat plant grows
to a height of about 2 feet and blossoms with a white flower. Its seeds,
which are three-cornered in shape, bear a close resemblance to
beechnuts, and because of this peculiar similarity, this cereal was
originally called _beech wheat_. Practically the only use to which
buckwheat is put is to grind it into very fine flour for griddle cakes,
recipes for which are given in another Section.
81. MILLET as a cereal food finds practically no use in the United
States; in fact, in this country it is grown almost exclusively for
cattle food, the stalk of the plant being large and juicy and containing
a considerable amount of food. The seed of this plant furnishes the
smallest grain known for use as food, and because of its size it is very
hard to gather. Millet, however, is used extensively by some of the
people of Southern Asia and India, who depend on it very largely, since,
in some localities, it forms their only cereal food. In these countries,
it is ground into flour and used for making bread.